Fantasy Football: 10 Fantasy Football Tips to Remember During Your Draft

Draft day is arguably the most enjoyable part of your fantasy football season. However, if you aren’t careful, it could end your championship hopes before they even begin.

The following 10 tips may seem obvious to some, but they are all too often taken for granted. Follow them closely on your way to fantasy football glory.  

10. Defense Doesn’t Win Championships

Drafting a defense is important, but not as important as one might suggest. Never be the first team to take one, and never reach on a defense until you already have solid backups at RB and WR. Ideally, you’ll want to take the seventh or eighth defense off the board. A lot of guys wait until one of the last round, as they practice the viable, defense by committee approach.

If a defense you like doesn’t fall to you, simply chose your weekly starter via waiver wire. Go with the team playing the worst offense. Any team playing the Bengals or Panthers is a must start.

9. Let the Draft Come to You

You should have a strategy heading into your draft, but you need to remain flexible. For example, if you go in thinking that you’re going to wait on a quarterback until later in the draft, and a top-tier guy slips into the fourth or fifth round, don’t hesitate to take him. If you think Matt Stafford will be enough in the eighth, but you can get Drew Brees in the late third or early fourth, jump on him.  The same rule should be applied at all other positions; don’t hesitate to take value over filling out your roster.

Depth wins fantasy titles, and value should always remain a priority. Strategies aren’t set in stone.

8. Don't Worry Too Much About Bye Weeks

Bye weeks shouldn’t prevent you from drafting a guy until your RB and WR positions are already filled. Use your bench to address any potential holes in your roster. The only time that bye weeks should come into play during the early rounds is as a final criteria in deciding between two players.

Don’t pass up value because you’re worried about your Week 9 match-up. Just don’t go overboard and field an entire roster with the same bye. 

7. Don't Party Until Afterwards

Half the allure of today’s fantasy football leagues is the draft party. Restaurants host these events with deals on beer and wings that are often extremely difficult to pass up. Other leagues feature kegs and hor’dourves spreads that rival most wedding receptions.

Eat, drink and be merry. Just don’t let it affect the way you draft. Stay relatively sober; don’t be that drunk guy at your draft making picks outside any realm of intelligence. Also, don’t worry too much about how fast the wings are getting eaten by the other guys.  You can buy all the wings you want when you win your league. 

6. Queue Multiple Players

Make sure that you have more than one player ready when it’s your turn to draft. Too often, guys will only have one guy in their queue. Their targeted pick will go the pick just before them and they’ll end up making a desperate pick for someone they don’t really want. Think, who are the top three to five guys that could fall to me for my next pick? Then think, if they’re somehow all taken, where should I look next? Build up your queue rather than sitting and hoping that someone falls to you.

Assume everyone you want will be taken; plan for the worst.

5. Only Take a Kicker in the Last Round

There is no reason to take a kicker in any round but the last. The inconsistency that the position brings makes it the least valuable in all of fantasy football. The easiest way to choose a kicker is to target guys that kick indoors or guys that kick for high powered offenses. Josh Brown of the Rams and David Buehler of the Cowboys tend to stick around until the end of most drafts.

 If you don’t land a guy that fits into these categories, start your kickers by committee. Use the waiver wire to add whichever available kicker is facing the worst defenses. It’s a surefire way to pile up points.

4. Don't Let NFL Allegiances Alter Your Picks

Even if you’re the biggest Green Bay Packers fan in the country, you can’t just pass on the Bears, Lions and Vikings by default. Fantasy football is just that: fantasy. You need to start the best players every week, regardless of whether or not you hate the teams they play for. On the opposite end of this spectrum, don’t put too much stock into the players from your own favorite team.

Individual performance reigns supreme in fantasy football. As difficult as it is, throw out any preexisting commitment to your favorite team.

3. Wait on a Tight End

In 2011, tight end is one of the deepest positions in the draft. Unless you’re in a very large league, you can easily land guys like Jared Cook, Brandon Pettigrew or Brent Celek in one of the final rounds of your draft. These three, along with the Patriots two productive TEs, will bring you ample production all season and aren’t much of a downgrade from the top-tier guys.

By reaching for a tight end in one of the early rounds, you’re robbing yourself of depth at the more important wide receiver or Running back position. 

2. Balance Risk and Reward

If you’re going to take Michael Vick in the first round, make sure your second round pick is someone you can count on (a work horse running back or wide receiver, without much injury risk). Don’t take too many risks in a row, as you could easily end up in last place if they don’t pan out. On the contrary, don’t be too conservative. Take a few fliers on some talented backups and rookies with upside. It’s impossible to predict exactly what’s going to happen; don’t over assume.

For every risky pick, back it up with value. And if you’re team’s ceiling is looking peculiarly low, stock up on guys with high upside. 

1. Do Your Homework

Being prepared for a draft doesn’t mean printing out one website’s power rankings and following them exactly as they're provided. You need to know who is injured and who just simply isn’t in a position to perform. Utilize the rankings of multiple sites and look for trends. Also be sure to check the date of which these rankings were updated. Pre-season games can change a lot over the course of just a couple days.

Studying and research is what separates a good draft from a great one. Assume that the other guys in your league have done their homework, don’t give them a head-start.  

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